Humanity is gradually developing, and many people are emerging who want much more than what this life offers. But those whose desire is still within the framework of this world should simply do what is written, as everyone else does.

However, those whose desire is directed toward spirituality, who are no longer satisfied with this world, merely observing the Torah is insufficient; they require intention. For them, the action is the intention—a striking coupling with the light (Zivug de Hakaa). This is precisely what is called an action in Kabbalah. Thus, one is intended for the corporeal world while the other for the spiritual world, and one does not cancel the other.

What does it mean to strive for a spiritual action, for Zivug de Hakaa, which is called a commandment, and for receiving the light, which is called the Torah, the holy names? It is written that a person must attain the entire Torah, which is called “buying the Torah.” Buying means acquiring it through the surrounding light so that all the holy names, the entire revelation of the Creator become clothed within a person.

If you have an aspiration for this, you should engage in it. And if not, then study the Pentateuch, the Mishnah, and the Gemara; that is your Torah. The two paths are distinct; we must understand that they are separate from one another.

I learned from Rabash not to antagonize those whose desire remains within the confines of this world. They want to convince me that it is better to halt one’s development than to advance. That is true because “he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” But they do not understand that it is impossible to stop development, that this world has a goal, and it evolves in accordance with that purpose.

They have a very strong connection with the Creator, which is why they are called the holy still level. But at what level is this connection? At the minimal inanimate level, when a person performs an action exactly as it is written, and nothing more.

This is called the “inanimate” level because a person does not develop: Just as he was taught at the age of their Bar Mitzvah to put on Tefillin and was told that from that age he is a Jew and must observe the commandments, so he continues until the end of his life. And here, nothing must be changed, neither taking away nor adding anything.

The inanimate level remains in the same state, does not change, and is irreversible. In this state, a person is connected with the Creator in a certain way; he continually does the same thing, and this is his measure of adhesion. Therefore, nothing can influence him, no matter what happens in the world: whether going into exile, returning from exile, enduring exterminations, whatever occurs. The “still” can withstand and pass through all of this. It has a foundation, a very strong point of adhesion, that does not change.

However, there is a great deficiency here; it cannot develop and cannot attain the goal of creation. But this point is very important, which is why Baal HaSulam always told his students to preserve this inanimate level within themselves.

Rabash talked about one of the Vizhnitz Hasidim who came to Baal HaSulam one day. At some point, he told Baal HaSulam that he wanted to follow his path, like a Gerrer Hasid, since Baal HaSulam wore the same type of clothing as the Gerrer Hasidim. Baal HaSulam replied: What difference does it make? All of this is purely external. On the contrary, you should preserve all your customs; remain a Vizhnitz Hasid and do what they do.

Why? If you enter a state of descent, you will not fall like an ordinary Jew from the marketplace; at least, you will fall like a Vizhnitz Hasid. And when you gradually begin to rise from the descent, you will still remain a Jew in some way. Therefore, it is important where a person falls. In other words, it is good to rise from the inanimate level of holiness because if you fall, then you fall back into it.

I am not going to abolish this upbringing because without it, the Jewish people would cease to exist.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/10/26, Rabash, “What Is the Gift that a Person Asks of the Creator?”

Everything we study in Kabbalah must be translated into an internal, sensory language. In mathematical terms, Behinot, Sefirot, Partzufim, we simply explain more precisely what is happening within us.

We must not imagine this as existing outside us; therefore, images and pictures are forbidden in Judaism. You know that for thousands of years, nothing was depicted.

In earlier times (during the tenth to fifteenth centuries), there were occasional engravings, but as a rule, there were no images. Why? This follows from the law: “Do not imagine anything existing outside you beyond your sensations.” Feelings cannot be depicted; they can only be recorded. And Kabbalists recorded them.

Therefore, the language should not confuse us. When reading the Torah, the Talmud, or Kabbalah, it does not matter in which language they are written, we must bring what we read inside ourselves and translate it into the language of feelings.

Then, beyond the Machsom, we will be able to communicate without language, through the direct transmission of feelings. This is called adhesion; it is achieved by aligning our corrected desires. No external language is needed then; everything is transmitted because a commonality exists: each person is not only within himself but is, to some degree, outside himself.

To the extent that we exist outside ourselves, we become included in the common field of communication known as the Creator. We understand one another completely, express ourselves to one another, and connect without any words.
[361971]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/26, Sitrin Convention, Sukkot 2003

Question: Where can I find the strength to work before the Machsom?

Answer: Only in the group. The group should give each of us an example of what should be. Therefore, we need to find a group that will transform us.

We cannot change ourselves on our own, but since we were once a collective Kli, despite the fact that we have become individualistic egoists, our root lies precisely in it. Therefore, whether we want it or not, whether we resist it or not, we will ultimately desire what this common Kli dictates to us.

No matter what kind of person you are, advertising, persuasion, and the opinion of the crowd will influence you, because our root is where we are connected to each other. Therefore, no matter how much of an egoist I am or how much I place myself above everyone else, I depend on the collective opinion. Every one of us does. We should make use of this fact.

This is the only aspect of free will that we possess. I now realize that the environment, through its opinion, can change any values in me, dictate my views regarding my entire life, the universe, convince me that dying is good and living is bad, or the opposite, or shape my perception of all of existence.

Therefore, I must organize society in such a way that it will dictate spiritual values to me, values that will be imprinted in me. The friends will convey this information in such a way that I will change, and nothing else will remain in me.

I will change in such a way that I will want to approach Machsom, I will want this Creator, who is now completely opposite to me, I will want to live in the upper world, although that life is completely opposite to the present, egoistic one. Such a re-evaluation of values can take place in me if the group I am in cultivates spiritual values within itself.

Therefore, the most important thing for us is to create such a group.
[361982]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/26, Sitrin Convention, Sukkot 2003

Baal HaSulam clearly distinguishes between the general and the particular Torah. “The opinion of the Torah is opposite to the opinion of the masses,” and the two should not touch each other or interfere in each other’s affairs. We are talking about a completely different Torah, a different approach, a different spirit. The entire course of life for us differs from that of the masses.

Within ourselves, within our thoughts, within our intention, we are constantly tormented by questions: “At what stage am I? What is happening to me?” And so on. Everything for us is internalized. For them, the external part rules: a constant intensification of external actions. And this is good; it is necessary. As long as there is no inner part, we engage in the external. This form of education was introduced by the Kabbalists.

Baal HaSulam writes that the destruction of the First Temple did not have such an profound impact, but after the destruction of the Second Temple, the very concept of Lishma (for the sake of the Creator) vanished without a trace. The surrounding light withdrew, and the Temple was destroyed. The destruction of the Temple means that this illumination was no longer present among the people.

It is the same with us. Sometimes, from the material you absorb, you experience a spiritual ascent, when it seems to you that you sense the Creator, that you have, as if, come back to life and are floating in the heavens.

And then suddenly you feel like a complete fool who has nothing and does not understand a single word. And yet, you have a distant illumination showing you that, compared with a good state, your present state is bad. But what will happen if even this illumination is taken away from you?

That is what happened during the destruction of the Temple. With the destruction of the First Temple, the illumination that had existed among the people, that allowed people to feel they were in spirituality and gave them a sense of inspiration and connection, departed. This illumination disappeared but left them its reverse side, which gave them a feeling of at least some connection with spirituality, a feeling that spirituality exists.

By proceeding from the opposite, people at least knew what Lishma was. Instead of the light of Mochin de Haya, which shone from afar during the time of the First Temple, now, during the time of the Second Temple, the light of Mochin de Neshama came to them. It also shone from afar, but nevertheless, it shone.

And after the destruction of the Second Temple, people lost the feeling that their state was bad compared with the light, and awareness of the meaning of Lishma disappeared. They found themselves in the state of a donkey that knows nothing. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the book A Sages Fruit, in the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah.”
[360326]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/12/26, Rabash, “One Should Always Sell Everything He Has and Marry a Wise Disciple’s Daughter”